


It All Started in the Park

by DarkJediQueen



Series: Just Write Trope Bingo 2020 [14]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Accidental Child Acquisition, All Human AU, Alternate Universe, Just Write Trope Bingo 2020, M/M, One-Shot, Single Parent Stiles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:28:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26643757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkJediQueen/pseuds/DarkJediQueen
Summary: While adjusting to life with his daughter living with him full time in Beacon Hills, Stiles set out a routine for the then three, now four year old. Saturday was their day in the park. Recently though there was a new addition to the park. Derek Hale.
Relationships: Stiles Stilinski/Derek Hale
Series: Just Write Trope Bingo 2020 [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1803853
Comments: 24
Kudos: 322
Collections: Just Write! Trope Bingo





	It All Started in the Park

**Author's Note:**

> **Year** : Future  
>  **Spoilers** : Everything  
>  **Notes** : This is a completed One-shot. There will be no more written in the universe. Prompts come from the Just Write Discord Server's 2020 Trope Bingo challenge. For the prompt: Accidental Child Acquisition. From [this](https://ryvetted4.tumblr.com/post/164450754933/sterek-au-single-daddy-stiles-brings-his-daughter) prompt on Tumblr.  
>  **Beta** : Grammarly

Stiles groaned as he rolled over to see Aurora in bed with him again. He looked at the time. He had plenty of time to get breakfast ready before they had to leave.

Aurora was cuddling her teddy bear quite tightly as she slept. She was the reason why Stiles had bought a new bed when she had come to live with him full time. It had been a year, and still, he wasn't the greatest at being a dad to her. He figured that she would be fucked up by the time that she was a teenager.

Stiles had been finishing up his second year of law school when Aurora had been born. Nine months before that, a failed condom and Stephanie being on antibiotics and birth control had left Stiles and his then-girlfriend with a choice of the morning after pill or not. Stephanie had been more than willing to roll the dice. Stiles had wanted her to take the pill, but it was her choice. So when the time came that she missed her next period, they knew. She had gone in for an appointment, and Stiles had been taking a test. May 1st Aurora had been born, and Stiles had been more than willing to be in her life, but Stephanie had wanted a kid for a long time and didn't want Stiles in her life. While trying during pregnancy, they found out that they did not do well living together.

Stiles took Aurora for a few weeks each summer and had her at least two weekends a month. There were times that when Stiles could watch her due to law his final year of law school that he would. Stephanie was more than happy with that.

After passing the Uniform Bar Exam, Stiles could practice law in many states. He had been set to stay in New York to be close to Aurora, but then he had been offered the job of a lifetime with a firm in Beacon Hills. It was the kind of place where you didn't leave until you were good and ready once you were there. Hale, Hale, and Whittemore Law Firm was run by Talia Hale and her brother Peter Hale and David Whittemore. Despite hating Jackson Whittemore's guts, Stiles was more than happy to move home and start to practice law there. He made enough that he could fly home for two long weekends a month and then bring Aurora home with him in summer. It had worked well until the summer that Aurora had turned three.

Stiles hadn't seen her on her birthday, but he had a month of her in June, so it more than made up for it. And Aurora was happy to have a second birthday party.

The call that had come on his father's work phone while they had been out and about at the zoo in San Francisco still shook Stiles when he thought about it. Aurora had Stiles' last name as Stephanie hadn't thought that she could take that from him. So when the cop from New York had looked up the Sheriff's department for Beacon County and found that a Noah Stilinski was the Sheriff, it didn't take long to put two and two together. Stiles' cell phone that was dead still had a Beacon Hills number.

The asking of the Beacon Hills Sheriff's department to do a death notification became something a lot more than that. It was something that still woke Stiles out of a dead sleep. He had felt great affection for Steph, but after breaking things off, they found out that they worked better as friends and less as significant others. Still, her death was something that was going to reverberate through Stiles' life because of Aurora.

Thankfully, Steph liked to document all aspects of her life. Her laptop was full of pictures and videos. There were ones from before Steph had been pregnant, a million of her when she was and then just as many for afterward. The first year where Stiles had been in New York, he was in just as many or taking the footage with her phone. Stiles was going to make sure that Aurora knew her. Stiles had years to know his mother she had died, Aurora didn't have that. The memories would fade fast.

Everything was already in the fridge, and Stiles pulled out the baggie with the eggs in it and shook it up to make sure the cheese was well spread before laying it out on the counter. He grabbed the potatoes that were already sliced and in water and set them out to drain. The bacon was next. He turned on the three burners on the stove and waited for the sound of the front door to open before he started the coffee.

"Morning," Noah said as he slipped in with the newspaper. It was still an hour until his shift would be starting.

This was step one of their Saturday morning ritual. Then it was going to the park so that Aurora could play and then lunch was in the station with a meal from whatever place Aurora wanted. Then the afternoon in the park again and Aurora played soccer. It was a starter league, so she was still mostly just having fun kicking the ball around.

"So, plans?" Noah asked.

"Well, you know exactly what they are, Dad," Stiles said.

"I know that part, son, but I meant about your man."

"Ugh, I hate that Parrish told you about seeing me staring at him. He's just nice to look at. I don't need a person in my life. I've been barely handling it with Aurora. I don't need to add more to this chaos."

Stiles was every thankful that the law office had daycare. He was able to go down and eat lunch with Aurora or just see her for a few minutes if a meeting or a case went horrible. Talia Hale was a taskmaster when it came to work, but she believed in family. It was why there was a daycare there, and it was why she had worked hard to make sure that Stiles could see his family. If not, he wasn't going to be working there, and she couldn't stand that.

The Hales were part of why Stiles was a lawyer. Too many years hanging around Cora and Peter, who had been in college but had been willing to babysit Cora when needed, including Stiles as they were a pair. Cora was just finishing her first year of fellowship, and she had at least one more to go before she was free to move where she wanted, which was back home.

"She sleep fine?" Noah asked.

"Yeah, she was in my bed, but she didn't look like she had been crying."

"You were in my bed a lot the last few months of your mom being sick and then on and off about two years after she had passed. It's fine. Rora's young."

"I know. She loves her new bedroom."

Stiles had spent a good bit of the insurance money from Stephanie's death to buy the house they were in and get it set up to where they were both happy. An updated kitchen was a must. Aurora was set for life when it came to schooling; the life insurance money from Steph's parents was sitting in a trust for her, and it was well handled by a local firm. Stephanie's life insurance was slotted to make Aurora's life comfortable, and thankfully Steph trusted Stiles enough to be the one to decide what that was. A good house was at the top of his list. Of course, there had been the money from Steph's apartment sale and even a small nest egg that had been given to him by Steph's boss to make sure that Aurora had a good life. They were set when it came to money, with what Stiles made and what he could draw out of her trust for medical care.

Aurora was already showing a few signs of ADHD, and Stiles knew that he would have to work on that with her before she got into school, but he had a year on that, and soccer was helping a great deal with her focus and running her ragged.

"You are doing fine, Stiles," Noah said like he was reading Stiles' thoughts about how he was fucking up Aurora's life.

"Yeah."

* * *

Stiles dropped his backpack down to the ground as Aurora ran to the slides where her friends were waiting on her. They were actually early, but to Aurora, they were late since her friends were already there.

"Stiles," Lisa said as she handed him a cup of coffee.

"You are a Goddess, you and your lovely wife," Stiles said as he sucked down a gulp of the liquid.

"I saw you this morning talking to your dad before he went to work, and you looked worn out."

"Eh, just too late doing research on something," Stiles said. He had been looking at good ways to manage Aurora and her ADHD. Stiles had done well on medication, but Aurora wasn't nearly as bad off as he had been, according to Noah, so Stiles wondered if he could manage her with less medication and more just structure and activity. There was a workout facility in the law firm, and there was a smaller area for the kids to play around in. Aurora loved it.

"You need to sleep."

"I'll sleep tonight. Aurora's gonna crash and sleep most of the night. I'll be fine." Stiles took another drink of his coffee and looked around. It was the same people, and Stiles was more than happy about that. He didn't see the hot guy who worked out on the kid's gym equipment. He did things no human should be able to do on them, he wasn't sure if he would call it working out.

"Oh, he's just finishing up his running," Lisa said with a smirk.

"Fuck," Stiles whispered.

"Oh, I'm sure you would love to. Just you know, tone the thirst down." Lisa walked away, laughing.

Stiles wanted to flip her off, but last time one of the other kids had seen him and tattled on him. Stiles grabbed his Kindle and debated what he wanted to do. He had a few books that he wanted to read, but he wasn't sure which one he wanted to do. He flipped through the pages and found the one that had sounded the best and tapped it. He looked around to find Aurora playing. After a year of this, he had perfected how to read and still watch her. There were a lot of other parents there, and all of them had their own methods, but there was never a second where there wasn't an eye on the kids.

Half an hour later, Stiles heard the uptick in talking and knew that meant that the hot guy who worked out on the equipment was there. Since the main set of bars on the actual working out equipment had finally been fixed, he could stop using the kids' stuff. Putting the exercise equipment for adults in the same area of the park as the kids' stuff had been a little controversial at first, but as there were many parents who liked to work out while their kids played, it had settled the older generation down.

Stiles tried not to stare, but the guy was already sweaty by the time that he got to the equipment and stripped off his shirt. Stiles looked down at his book when he did. He always wants to lick a stripe right up the tattoo that he had on his back. Stiles knew that he had seen that version of it somewhere, but he hadn't been able to figure out where. He had tried a search once on his phone, but it had given him nothing. It really bothered Stiles.

The day was a show in Stiles trying not to drool too much after the guy while he worked out. He used every single bit of the equipment, and Stiles wasn't sure that some of it weren't being used wrong. Last was where he hung upside down and did crunches or sit-ups, whatever they were called. Stiles didn't mind working out. He did it every day before starting work, but he didn't do it on those levels. Though the hot guy really was hot and his body looked like something that was carved from stone.

Stiles looked down at his book, reading a page on the screen before checking over all of the kids. He knew the ones that had left and the ones that had arrived. All heads were accounted for. Stiles couldn't resist looking and found that the guy was still hanging down with his hands behind his head. He grinned at Stiles and then winked at him.

Jerking his head down, Stiles didn't look over at the man at any point in time until he knew that he was gone. He was probably going to get a call about it from his father after a complaint had been made. Everyone knew about him and Aurora. Knew that he was pretty noticeable wit his Jeep as well. He had Steph's sensible car, but sometimes it was nice to just drive around in the Jeep. Aurora loved it when Stiles popped all of the bits off the Jeep that he could, and they drove the back roads with the sun shining.

"Hungry, love bug?" Stiles asked as Aurora ran over to him.

"Not yet. Is Grandpa?"

"He's not messaged me yet. So you have time to play a little more." Stiles handed over the bottle of water that Aurora had been drinking from. She drained it off, and Stiles added it to the pile of ones he had already gone through. He would clean them out and refill them from the tap at home. The bottles were reusable, and Stiles kind of loved the set of a dozen that Steph had.

AN hour later, Stiles saw the text from his father at the same time that Aurora ran at him.

"Hungry!" Aurora stated.

"Well, let's go and get some food for you so you can play soccer," Stiles said.

"Yeah!" Aurora screamed.

* * *

Stiles wasn't sure where he was, but he was in pain, and he didn't like it.

"Stiles, come on, wake up, Stiles," a voice said.

Stiles forced his eyes open, and he saw darkness all around but then a face as he turned his head. It was the guy from the park.

"Hey, you know my name."

"Stiles, how many fingers am I holding up?" the hot guy asked. He held up a few fingers.

Stiles counted them. "Three."

"Good. Now, where is Aurora?"

"Aurora?" Stiles tried to turn in the seat as he realized he was in the car. The hot guy just held him down.

"Stiles...stop. Stop. You shouldn't be moving that much. Now, where is she?"

Stiles tried to think. She had been in the backseat, right?

"Where am I?"

"You are just at the edge of the Preserve. The little hill. It looks like someone ran you off the road. EMTs and jaws of life are on the way. Was she in the car?"

"No. No, she's with Dad. I had a case out of town today, and I was just coming home."

"Okay. Good. I don't need to keep screaming for her. Is your Dad at home?"

"No. Work by now. Probably wondering where I am. She's asleep in his office." Stiles swallowed, and his head was hurting. It was getting worse and worse.

"Derek?" a voice called out.

"Okay, the jaws of life are here. We are probably going to have to use them to get you out. The car is totaled. Is there anything you need out of it?"

"Case files in a briefcase in the trunk. I can't...they can't leave me."

"I'll call Peter and have him come and get them."

Stiles nodded his head and regretted it. He had no clue why the hot guy was there, but he was glad that he got to see his face before he died. He was in so much pain that he wasn't sure he was going to make it. He had never been in pain like this. He groaned and tried to move away, but it just made him hurt worse.

"I'm gonna pass out now, okay?" Stiles asked.

"No, Stiles, stay with me."

The hot guy slapped Stiles on the cheek gently.

"Derek, incoming!" a voice called out.

There was the sound of rocks and debris falling down.

"How's my son?" Noah asked.

"He's well, he's not fine, Sir. He's in pain, but he was able to tell me where Aurora was tonight. Is she..."

"No. She's asleep in my office, and Tara is watching her. I heard the plate when you gave it over the radio. What happened?"

"No clue. I saw the lights over the bank. I figure that the camera in the intersection caught it."

"Yeah, I'll have Parrish take a look. Fuck, he was run off the road."

"Yes, Sir, and I think it might have been two cars. I can tell damage pretty well after enough crashes."

Stiles knew the words they were saying, but he couldn't put them into something that made sense to him. He closed his eyes and just let his mind so away.

* * *

Stiles opened his eyes, and he saw Aurora in the arms of hot guy. He had no clue why the guy was holding his daughter, but she didn't seem too upset. The door opened, and his father came in. He looked like he hadn't slept for shit for days. Stiles looked around to see that it was daylight, so he probably hadn't slept well the night before.

"When is Daddy waking up?" Aurora asked.

"Soon. The doctor said he would be waking up anytime now."

"Why were you there?" Aurora asked, looking at Derek.

"I was there because I saw his car."

"But Grandpa said you were helping. Why?"

"I'm a firefighter, and that means that I help with things like that. Your Dad's car was leaking fuel, and there was a chance that it could catch fire, and we were working on getting him out. I have EMT training as well, so I was able to do both."

"So, that's why you work out like that at the park every Saturday morning."

"Yes."

"Daddy likes to watch you."

Stiles was really glad that he was still thought to be asleep at the moment. He didn't want a hot guy to look at him right then.

"Derek, thanks for watching her. I can take over now," Noah said.

"I wanna stay with Mister Derek until Daddy wakes up."

"He's already awake," Derek said.

Stiles saw Aurora look at him, and then Noah did. He really wanted to close his eyes, but he wasn't fast enough. Aurora tried to lunge at him, and Stiles flinched back, making his body hurt.

"Aurora, what did I say?" Derek asked.

"Daddy's sore, and I can't make movements like that. Sorry, Daddy."

"I'll set you down on the bed beside him if you promise to hug him gently." Derek walked around the bed and set her down gently.

Aurora moved slowly to hug Stiles. He used the hand that didn't have stuff coming out of it to hug her back.

"Hey boys, and miss princess," Melissa said as she came into the room. There was a man behind her that Stiles knew as one of the doctors in the hospital. "Why don't you come with me, Aurora, and I'll see about getting you a sucker."

"Okay. But I wanna come back as soon as possible."

"You will as soon as the doctor is done. Maybe we can look at the weird break that happened to your father's arm. I think I have the films ready to show you."

"Okay." Aurora looked like she wanted to protest, and Stiles understood. She had lost her mother and her other grandparents in a car wreck.

Stiles drove so carefully.

The doctor didn't talk to him long, given that it was a simple concussion, as well as a broken arm and leg. He had few cuts along his face and arms from the glass shattering when his car had been hit. He was bruised up, though, and that would hurt like hell. His body was going to be stiff.

"Do you remember what happened?" Noah asked.

"Yeah. Is someone here to take my statement?" Stiles asked.

"Yeah. Parrish, but what about Aurora?"

"You aren't getting her out of here for a while, so we might as well do it now."

"I'll go get him." Noah shook Stiles' leg a little, reminding him that Stiles was there.

"Do you want me to go?" Derek asked.

"No. I wanted to thank you. Your first thought was Aurora."

"Your father was really worried about her even after you were taken by the EMTs to the ER."

"She lost her mother and maternal grandparents in a car wreck last summer."

"Oh." Derek looked shocked at that.

"Do you think you can keep her entertained?"

"Sure. I have a few coloring books with me."

"Why?"

"I thought that your father might like a little time away. I figured if I stayed in here with her, no one would mind. She was pretty happy that her father's hero saved him. She woke up and heard the call about you on the radio before Tara could tell she was awake. She stayed here all night." Derek pointed at the bed beside him, and Stiles saw the stuffed animals there. It was her pile from the station.

"I'm screwing this up," Stiles said. He relaxed back onto the bed and closed his eyes.

"No, you aren't."

Stiles looked at him, his eyes only opening a little. Derek was right there. He sat down on the edge of the bed and smiled at him.

"Look, she's happy, and she's pretty good for a kid who just lost a parent a year ago. I've seen kids a lot worse off."

"Steph raised her. I came out when I could and saw her as often as possible."

"Yes, I know."

"You know?"

"I didn't know that her mother had died, but Peter talks a lot about you and has for a while. It took me a while to get the Stilinski kid and you when you were at the park together in my head, but then one of the moms called you Stiles, and I heard her."

"Peter? Hale?" Stiles asked. He remembered Derek mentioning him and getting his files.

"Stiles, do you not know who I am?" Derek looked a few shades of amused at that.

"No," Stiles said, and the look on Derek's face said that Stiles really should.

"Cora is going to lose her shit."

Derek's eyebrows did something that Stiles knew. Derek Hale. Cora's brother, Talia's son, and Peter's nephew. He knew that Derek had come back to Beacon Hills about three months before, but Cora didn't talk about him much. It seemed though that Cora and Derek talked about Stiles.

"I didn't-" Stiles stopped as he knew where he knew the tattoo on Derek's back from. It was in a painting in the Hale house. Stiles hadn't been in that part of the house for years, and that was why he couldn't find it. It was the family sigil or something. That was what Talia had said when Stiles had asked about it. "Fucking hell, I'm an idiot."

"Well, I've called you that before. It's been over a decade, though."

"I should have known the bunny teeth," Stiles shot back. He moved, and his whole body hurt. Derek was there and pushed him down gently before helping him move a little. It got the pressure off of where it was bothering him but also wasn't making him hurt all that much anywhere else. He sighed and sunk down again. "Thanks."

The door opened again, and Parrish came in carrying Aurora in his arms. She had an unwrapped sucker in one hand and another two that were still wrapped in the other.

"And who gave you three suckers?" Stiles asked.

"Miss Melissa. But one is for Derek, and one is for you, Daddy. But Miss Melissa said it was only if you answered Mister Jordan's questions without getting snarky. If not, I could eat it and bounce off the walls and drive you nuts."

"I'm paying for my sins as a child," Stiles said.

Derek and Parrish both laughed, and they were assholes. As soon as Aurora was set down, Stiles flipped them off, which just made them laugh more. Derek walked over to where there was another chair, and he dug out the coloring books and large crayons. It looked...Stiles forced himself to look away since he really didn't need to get attached like that. Derek was just helping him out because he was tangential to the rest of the Hale family. There was no other reason other than him being a good man.

"So tell me what happened," Parrish said as he set down his phone on the bed beside where Stiles was and took a seat in the chair.

"I was driving when I saw the lights behind me. They were coming along fairly fast, so I pulled over to get out of the way, just to be safe. I know a few deputies have forgotten to put on the lights and sirens sometimes. I hear Dad bitching about it all the time. So I just waited, and then the car rammed into me from behind. I was so shocked that my foot came off the brake. My car jumped forward, and that was when I saw the one coming at me that way. I couldn't turn the wheel to get away because there was no time. The car rammed into me pretty much T-boning me. Then the two of them pushed me over the hill where the barrier stopped. I wasn't even aware I was that close."

"So, it was on purpose."

"Yes."

"And Aurora has no living family?"

"There was a great Aunt on Steph's father's side of the family, but she was in a long term care facility, and I'm not even sure she is alive."

"Then, we will have to look into people who have grudges against your father."

"Why do they go after me? I mean, Donovan was at least near to my age, but this is just...ugh."

"Your father isn't going to want you going home alone. Especially since you can't drive." Parrish's eyes darted down to Stiles' arm in a brace, given the cuts then down to his leg in a full cast.

It was his hand he would use to shift gears in the Jeep.

"Yeah. Able to get Aurora's things from the car?"

"It was towed to the lot and is being gone over with a fine-toothed comb. We'll catch the guys who did this."

"Yeah." Stiles closed his eyes. He was tired. He had been asleep all night long, but he was still tired. He didn't care, though. His body needed sleep. "Aurora."

"I'll watch her," Derek said as he came over to Stiles' side of the bed. He looked down at Stiles and brushed his fingers over the fringe of his hair on his head.

"Sure?" Stiles asked.

"Of course, I am sure."

"Don't let her eat my sucker." Stiles felt his body pushing him under again, and he let it happen. Melissa would check on Derek and Aurora. His Dad would be back soon, and Aurora was safe.

* * *

"I HATE YOU!" Aurora yelled before she took off running.

The slamming of the door had Stiles sighing. He reached up to rub the bridge of his nose and cracked himself with the cast. It wasn't even the first time he had done it. The cuts from the glass had been healed enough for a cast to be put on his arm. The brace hadn't been cutting it, given how bad the break was.

Stiles leaned back on the couch and looked up. He was supposed to be resting, keeping his leg up after he had made the break worse, with the cast on by tripping over a toy of Aurora's while moving about the house. Now he was in a wheelchair. He was able to get himself in and out of it as needed to get around the house. He was picked up for work three days a week as, without that, he was going to go crazy. Peter and Talia had made sure that a handicap accessible van had been rented so that Stiles could get around town at least a little and paid for a driver. Stiles had learned long ago to just with it when they did shit like that. They would go to much worse methods to see their will done.

Tears were falling down his face, and Stiles thought about again, finding a family to adopt Aurora. He loved his daughter, but he was fucking her up, and she wasn't even five yet. Stiles wanted a drink, but he promised himself that he would never do that when Steph was pregnant. That he would never reach for a glass while upset about being a parent.

"I'm sorry, Steph. I can't. I can't be what she needs." Stiles grabbed the laptop and looked up the forms that he had on it. It was his work one, so there was access to so much. He found the forms for giving up custody. He could still manage the trust and everything but pay someone else a stipend to raise her. The only thing that he could think about was that someone else was going to fuck her up less.

Stiles was near the end of the document when he heard a key in the door. He looked up as his father let himself in. He had already told his father to do that so that he didn't have to get to the door to open it for him.

"She ready?" Noah asked.

"Yeah." Stiles had no clue what he was talking about, but he assumed that his father got a call asking him to come and pick her up for the day. At least his father could take her to the park for her normal Saturday.

A few seconds later, Aurora came down the stairs with her bag for soccer in one hand and a backpack that was full on the other shoulder.

"Have fun," Stiles said.

Noah looked at him, but Stiles just waved him off. Noah nodded his head, and then Stiles was alone. He wondered if his father would take her. Stiles thought that would be better than anyone else. Or the Hales. The Hales had taken in a few kids over the years who needed it. Peter had adopted Isaac when he and Isaac had been in high school after Stiles had seen his father hitting him freshman year.

Stiles grabbed his cell phone and dialed Peter before he could think about anything else.

"Stiles, if this is work-related, I'm cutting your access to your laptop," Peter said. The tone sounded angry, but there was an undercurrent of worry. It had taken Stiles a long time to tell the difference between them.

"Not fully. I don't have much contact with the firm's family law side, and I was wondering who you would recommend for handling a private adoption."

"Stiles?" Peter asked.

"I can't, I'm fucking her up, and she hates me and I just...I can't ruin her." Stiles was full-on crying now, and he couldn't hear what Peter was saying. Stiles dropped the phone and curled on the couch. He pulled his injured leg up onto the couch and then tucked his arm into his body. He didn't care about anything. Not for the first time, he wished that he had been the one to die instead of Steph. She would be better at this. Aurora wouldn't hate her.

The door opened sometime later, and Stiles just stayed like he was. It had to be his father. Peter had to have called him. He'd yell at his boss later. His father didn't get close to him, and Stiles really didn't care. He was tired. He had been tired for two weeks since he had got home with Aurora after being released from the hospital, and all that happened was Aurora started to get upset learning about how her life was going to be impacted.

Feet on the stairs that led up to where Stiles hadn't been in two weeks made him sigh. He grabbed the blanket and pulled it over himself before he cried himself to sleep.

Stiles knew two things when he woke up, one he wasn't on the couch anymore as well as no bed he had ever been in before, and his house had never smelled like this place smelled, so he wasn't in his house at all. Stiles opened up his eyes and looked around. Everything was kind of blurry with crust in his eyes from crying himself to sleep. He reached but stopped when he realized it was his broken arm. He dropped it and made his other arm move. He rubbed his eyes clear and looked around again. The style of the room was exactly the same as it had been in high school, and he had crashed here again after a long night of studying. He had been kidnapped to the Hale house, it seemed. He should have been upset that he had been kidnapped, but he wasn't.

At least here, he wasn't alone. He could trust that the other Hales would help him.

"Aurora spilled the beans as soon as soccer was over. Telling Noah that she didn't want to go home," Peter said from somewhere behind Stiles.

Stiles rolled over and looked at him.

"Your father is upset at both of you but more at Aurora. I guess he's been talking to her about not being upset when you can't do everything you used to. Why didn't you ask for help?"

"She's my kid," Stiles said.

"You were old enough that you could help yourself when your mother died, Stiles. Aurora isn't, and still, your father had a league of people helping him. You are not alone."

"She hates me."

"No, she doesn't." Peter stood up, and Stiles rolled away from him. Being back in this room that he had ended up in as a kid made him feel like a kid again.

"Noah's asking for you, Peter," Derek said.

"We are not done with this, Stiles."

Stiles pulled the blankets over his head. He didn't need to see Peter to know that the man was glaring at him. Stiles really wasn't sure which one of them had carried him out of his house and then again into the house, but he figured it was Derek. Derek, who was built like a bodybuilder.

"Hey, don't hide." Derek's tone was soft, but Stiles still ignored it.

"Why am I here?"

"Peter called me from the house phone when you called him. He couldn't get you to answer him. Do you remember calling him?" Derek rested a hand on Stiles' hip and rocked him a little bit. He was careful, though.

"Yeah," Stiles said.

"Talk, Stiles. You used to spew everything that came to your mind."

"Steph would hate me right now."

"No, you are doing the best you can. You couldn't help this. You did nothing to deserve this, and Aurora's scared. You've got her in therapy like a good parent, but it can only do so much. She loves you, and it would wreck her if you gave her up, even to your father. Peter got on your laptop and found the forms you were looking at."

"She'd be happier," Stiles said.

"No, she wouldn't. Would you have? After your mother died? If you were taken from your father? There is a reason why the deputies all made sure that your father got off the bottle instead of taking it up in a way that would get you removed from him. That would have destroyed you both."

Stiles pushed the blanket down and looked at Derek. "How many people knew?"

"One of the deputies at the time was a friend of Peter's. He went to Peter to find out what they could leverage. It wasn't like even if they were talking in hypothetical, it wasn't hard to figure out that it was you. Peter started to ask about you more with Cora, and then that made her want to bring you home more. I heard enough of everything that I kind of figured everything out. Of course, you were so loyal to your father that you didn't give him up. It made Peter like you more."

"He loved me the first time I snarked at him. What am I doing here?"

"Dad's home for a few weeks. He's working from home for the restaurant while working on the next menu, and he wants you as a taste tester. You can work from home as well and spending more time with Aurora and having help. The van will be here, and Dad can drive it. You'll get time away from needing to take care of her and take a little off of you, and hopefully, you and Aurora will go through a day without screaming at each other."

Stiles hated that he and Aurora had been fighting. It had been worse than when she had come to live with him full time after Steph's death. Stiles knew that a lot of it was him not getting enough sleep with him being in pain and his routine being off-kilter. Which put hers off-kilter as well, and so Stiles needing time alone just made him feel like a failure.

"Where is Aurora?"

"She's at soccer. Lisa and her wife are already making plans to come and snag you both next weekend to make sure that you and she get your outside time. Though I'm off again next Saturday."

"How do you have every Saturday morning off?"

"I would say luck, but another guy wants Saturday night off, so I start at five, and that's the start of my week. We all work a pretty standard set of time unless someone is on vacation. It's also allowed me to work up the nerve to talk to this person who brings their daughter to the park every Saturday."

Stiles nodded his head. He knew the girlfriends that Derek had over the years. He tried to figure out who was single that brought a daughter to the park every Saturday. He hoped that she said yes. Derek deserved to have the best girlfriend.

Derek gave Stiles a look that he wasn't sure what it meant, so Stiles put it down to his medications.

* * *

Stiles sat up carefully as he needed to move position. He looked around and found that Derek was still working out on the kid's play equipment. Aurora was staying pretty close to him. Aurora was doing a hell of a lot better with them staying at the Hale house. He grabbed his next dose of medication as well as the snack that Derek had brought with them so that he could take them without his stomach getting upset. Stiles was still a walking bruise as he called it, even though he wasn't walking. His body was sore as hell. He tossed the pills back and washed them down before grabbing the snack. He grabbed the next bottle of water to wash that down with. He watched as Aurora walked over to where Derek was.

Today, soccer had been early in the morning, so they were just hanging out after practice. Derek didn't look too worried about getting ready for work or leaving to do that.

"GRANDPA!" Aurora yelled.

Stiles looked to see his father getting out of his SUV. He was still dressed in work clothes, so he must have just gotten off work. Noah crouched down to catch Aurora as she threw herself at him. Noah had been coming around the Hale house to see them more the last week, so it wasn't like Aurora hadn't seen him last night. Aurora knew that Noah was disappointed in her, though, and Stiles kind of hated it, but he was also glad that Noah wasn't telling her that she was a good little girl despite being a brat the last little while. Stiles knew that she was scared of losing him, she was just old enough to know that her tantrums were not a good thing.

"How is my favorite son?" Noah asked as he got close.

"I am your only son," Stiles said.

Noah set Aurora down, and she took off for the play equipment again. Derek was doing his weird crunch things while hanging upside down. Stiles tried not to watch him too much as it was just going to end in something that wasn't good, given that Derek had to help him up from where he was lying on the blanket on the grass.

"How are you feeling?" Noah asked.

"Better than last week. I'm moving around on my own a lot better. Greg has been really great. He's able to do the small stuff that I can't while also not making me feel like shit for not being able to care for my daughter." Stiles had retained his sanity over the last week just because of him. Greg wasn't pushing boundaries, and he never told Aurora if she could or couldn't do something. He always told Aurora to ask Stiles, and that was the best thing. Stiles was excited for when the Hales started to give them grandchildren.

Stiles looked around the park, trying to figure out who the woman was that Derek wanted to ask out on a date. Stiles wondered if he could get his father to take him and Aurora home so that Derek didn't have to feel like he needed to take care of them. Derek hung limp on the bar that he was working on and smiled at Stiles when he caught his eye as he looked around. Stiles ducked his head down and blushed a little.

"What did you want, old man?" Stiles asked as he forced himself to look away from where Derek was.

"I came to take my granddaughter to my house for the rest of the weekend. I'll bring her back tomorrow evening. I don't work again until Monday. Greg invited me over to for dinner tomorrow."

"She'll love that. She likes being able to play in the woods some, but I think she's getting bored of just having Greg and me mainly. Peter plays with her some, but he's been working a lot lately. Talia is a little hesitant, but then I understand. She's not hers."

Noah hummed at that, and Stiles frowned as he saw the smile blossom on his face. Stiles turned to look where he was looking. Derek was on the ground, and he was talking to Aurora, who hugged him and then ran over to where they were.

"I'm ready, Grandpa. Derek said he's going to get the bag that Uncle Peter packed."

"Stiles, be good."

"What other choice do I have?" Stiles asked as he raised his arm that was in a cast and then looked at his leg.

Noah laughed and ruffled his hair. Stiles felt like he was ten again, but he loved it. Aurora tugged Noah to stand up, and then they were heading to where Derek was walking back toward them. Derek kissed Aurora and the cheek after he hugged her, and then they were off, and Derek was headed toward Stiles. He settled down beside Stiles.

"How are you feeling?" Derek asked.

"Good. I took my pill, and I'm fine," Stiles said. He was a little annoyed with everyone checking in on him. It wasn't like he didn't make his pain and displeasure known. He forgave Derek, though, because he wasn't used to him. He wasn't used to Stiles complaining about everything. Though Stiles also knew that it was only a select few that knew that Stiles didn't really complain about the things that mattered.

"Hey," Derek said, and he turned Stiles' face to look at him. "I don't mean to upset you."

"I know, and I know that people are checking in because they are worried, but I'm sick of it. I just want to be left alone on that, and people just won't. Well, except for Cora. She's been leaving me alone on that."

"I'll try and stop asking then."

"No, Derek, it's...you don't know me that well. I was hoping that Dad would take me back so you could hang out here and ask your lady out on a date."

"My lady?" Derek asked.

"The person you were talking about. The one that you were working up the courage to talk to. The woman who brings her kid here every Saturday."

"You know Cora and Peter both told me I was too subtle."

"About the woman? I mean, has she seen you? Talked to you?" Stiles tried to keep his mouth shut, but it wasn't working. At least he wasn't babbling about anyone who knew him would be hard-pressed to find a better person. Stiles had kind of fallen for him over the past week. He was wonderful with Aurora, and he was gentle with Stiles and never was upset about helping him.

"I need to shower. So why don't we head to my place? There is an elevator. You can snoop around while I shower."

"What about your woman?" Stiles asked.

"Because I want to ask her out smelling like this?" Derek asked.

"Well, I mean, you are nice and sweaty. I don't think anyone would turn you down like that."

"Even you?" Derek asked.

Stiles laughed to cover up the fact that he wanted to say he would never turn Derek down. Derek was watching him closely.

"Well, I'm leaving, so you are either coming with me, or someone will come to get you later."

"Ugh, fine. Use me as the reason."

Stiles pouted the entire way to Derek's loft. He wasn't going to let Peter bully him into thinking this was his fault. If Derek wanted to ask the woman out, he would. He wasn't, and it wasn't on Stiles. Even though he was sure that Peter would be the reason. It had been the insinuation since Stiles had got hurt from the elder Hale.

The wheelchair was an upgrade, something light that was easy for Stiles to use with just one arm, so he wasn't nearly as bound. The wheels were able to be used independently of each other, but there was also a lever that Stiles could use to move forward with just one arm. He didn't want a motorized one, and soon once his arm was better, he could use one of the scooter devices, propping his leg on it and going forward on one foot. Stiles was looking forward to that, even if he still couldn't drive.

Derek instilled Stiles on his couch before heading out to get his shower in. He came back fifteen minutes later, only dressed in a pair of basketball shorts. Stiles looked at him as he toweled at his hair with a hand towel as he walked toward the couch. Stiles was glad that Derek couldn't see him. He looked away as the towel started to come off of his head.

Stiles tried to ignore everything that was Derek as he sat down on the coffee table in front of him.

"Stiles," Derek said.

"Yeah?" Stiles asked as he still looked down at his phone.

Derek reached out and pushed the phone away from where Stiles could see it. Stiles finally looked up, and Derek had a soft look on his face. He always looked so good when he smiled, and he was smiling at Stiles.

"Wanna go to dinner with me tonight?"

"Don't you have work?"

"I'm off for the next week. We get a week every three months just to give us a break mentally. The boss actually cares about us like that. So no. I don't have to go to work. I want to go to dinner."

"Why don't you go-" Stiles stopped when Derek made a noise that sounded like a growl before he lunged forward.

Stiles screamed, but it was cut off when Derek covered his mouth with his own. Stiles jerked, and he gasped when Derek caught his casted arm to stop him from hitting Derek with it. He was gentle, though, as he moved it away and licked into Stiles' mouth.

"So," Stiles said when Derek pulled out of the kiss a few minutes later. "Not a mother with a kid."

"No."

"Yeah, you kind of have to be pretty obvious."

"That's what your father said."

"My father?" Stiles felt his eyebrows shoot up.

"Yes. I was talking to another firefighter after a call, while we were waiting to make sure it wasn't going to catch again. He overheard me talking about the guy at the park that I wanted to ask out. He heard me talking about Aurora. I knew her name but not yours and I guess I said something that he recognized about the two of you. He told me that I would have to be blunt as hell after I made the comment that I kept on watching you and flirting, and it was going over your head."

"Yeah, I don't do well with noticing when someone wants me," Stiles said. 

"No, kidding. Three months Stiles. Your father only talked to me a few weeks ago. I didn't believe it but this whole damned week, Stiles. I even asked out earlier, and you just brush it off. If it wasn't for the fact that your father said you were interested in me, I would have taken it as a reason to not ask again. So I am very happy that I realized that you didn't notice I was flirting because you thought I was going after someone else who takes their kid to the park every single Saturday."

Stiles laughed, and he leaned forward to catch Derek's lips again. Derek moved in again, pressing Stiles back into the couch. 

"So how about that date?" Derek asked when he pulled out of the kiss, not letting it got nearly as heated as the first one had. 

"I think you would have done better asking me when you were sweaty," Stiles said. He looked down at Derek's chest. "Though this view is very, very nice."

Derek pushed Stiles back into the couch and settled in beside him, plucking Stiles' injured leg up and laying it over his. He was touching a lot, and Stiles didn't know what to do with it. Other than Aurora and his father, there was not a lot of people who touched him. 

"Can I-?" Stiles waved at him, and Derek nodded his head. Stiles curled into where he was able to draw his other leg up to lay over Derek. "I'm tired."

"Take a nap. I'll turn the TV on, and when you wake up, we can see about heading out to dinner somewhere."

Stiles nodded his head and rubbed it on Derek's chest a little. He was warm, a hell of a lot warmer than Stiles was. Stiles closed his eyes and smiled as Derek wrapped his arm around him to keep him where he was. 

* * *

"DADDY!" Aurora yelled as she rushed over to where Stiles was. She was in her soccer uniform even though soccer had been over for an hour. She hadn't wanted to change out of it, and it wasn't like it was going to get any dirtier. She was already covered in dirt and grass from diving after a lot of soccer balls. 

Thankfully, Aurora didn't jump at him in deference to his still in a cast leg, and his arm was recently out of the cast but still tender. 

"Why are we here on Sunday?" Aurora asked. She had asked a few other times, but Stiles had just told her that he wanted out of the house. 

Stiles could move around a lot more, but he was still unable to drive, so Stiles took getting out where he could, and Derek had asked for him to be here. Things were going really well with him. Aurora found it to be the best thing ever. 

The pick up in chatter among the single moms told Stiles that Derek was nearly done with his run. Stiles looked around to see his boyfriend heading toward them. He was covered in sweat, and Stiles really liked how he looked. He smiled and made his way to where Stiles was sitting. Peter had dropped off Aurora and Stiles at the park earlier in the day. Stiles didn't need a wheelchair or the scooter anymore, the van had been returned to where it had been rented from, and Stiles was able to get around without needing much help. 

"DEREK!" Aurora yelled. 

Stiles blushed as nearly all of the eyes in the area turned to look at them. Derek grabbed his water bottle from the backpack he had left with Stiles and drank down half of it before he settled onto the blanket with Stiles and Aurora. He laughed as Aurora moved to get near him but back off when she got too close.

"You are sweaty," Aurora said. She had a full-on pout on her face.

"Yes, I know. It's what happens when I work out."

"You were working today, why are you working out?"

"Because I won't be able to tomorrow. That's why."

"Why not?"

Stiles really didn't want to get into this here, but Aurora was too adorable when she didn't get what she wanted. Which in this case, Stiles was pretty sure it was cuddles with Derek. He had been working for the last four days. He was about to start a few days off, and his work schedule had changed some, so they were getting used to that. Derek still had Saturday mornings off but also now Friday nights so that they had a good date night during the week and whoever was available to watch Aurora did so. Usually, it was Peter hogging her. She was going to end up like him, which wasn't a bad thing, but Stiles was still dreading it. 

"I'll be too busy. Getting things moved around and stuff."

"Derek?" Stiles asked. 

"Nothing big. Helping a friend move, and I'm not gonna be up for anything. Then when I get done with that, I'm taking you out on that proper date you gripe about so much." 

Stiles looked at Derek's face, seeing how happy he looked as he looked at Stiles. Stiles looked around and saw that everyone was still looking at them, a few with glares on their face, and not all of the ones glaring were actually single. 

"Hungry," Aurora said.

"Well, we can't have that, can we?" Derek asked as he looked at her. "The beef stew should be just about done, and then we can eat after I shower." Derek leaned in and kissed Stiles. 

It was their first kiss in public like this. The first time that they had been here together on a Sunday. The Saturday crowd was more than happy for them, but given the looks that Stiles could feel, he knew that the Sunday crowd hadn't been told yet. 

"Ready?" Derek asked when he pulled out of the kiss with a smile on his face.

Stiles nodded his head and started to pack up. He was pretty happy with his life at the moment. There were ups and downs. Aurora was still having issues, but Stiles wasn't drowning anymore. He felt like he wasn't just treading water but making waves.

# The End

**Author's Note:**

> I write fanfiction for fun. It's a hobby and a stress relief. I refuse to stress over my writing. What you see is what you get. Errors, plot holes, and all. Thank you for reading my story!
> 
> I can be found on MeWe [here](https://mewe.com/i/beccaqueen1), join me there and we can discuss my fics and whatnot.


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